Elisabeth Smith

If you believe that ancient peoples communicated with extraterrestrials and even explored interstellar space, Elisabeth Smiths visually engaging paintings may resemble antediluvian star maps. Smiths highly contrasting color palette (yellows and oranges paired with blues and greens) tints a kind of primitive snapshot of the cosmos just moments after the Big Bang. At a glance, the works in Elisabeth Smith: Solo Exhibit could be mistaken for decorative art: abstract, mass-produced pieces meant to match a paint shade or the sofa upholstery. But stare at these pieces long enough, and symbols begin to emerge; narratives develop deep inside the ambiguous, cloudy forms  wait a second, why are we hearing the Strokes all of a sudden? Maybe its because Smiths Green Collision is almost identical to the North American cover of the Strokes Is This It? album. Like, creepily similar  all the way down to the intersecting greenish-blue lines and curlicues against the orangy-gold background. Interestingly, that album graphic is titled Big Bang. Hold on, were getting somewhere: Smith named one of her paintings Interpole. Gotcha! Her major inspirations are sci-fi and New York rock and roll.